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As some of you know, I have wanted to stop managing H-M for some time.
It's a tremendous strain on my personal life. I want to set up my own shop.
In September, September 15, to be exact, it will be 8 years that Hobby-Machinist has been in existence.

I have been training VTCNC to run things here. Dabbler is going to learn too.
I feel that they are ready to start taking over the operation.
I will be here to help in case they need, but I don't think they will.
Tony Wells is and will be here also to consult with.
I will be doing backups, upgrades, and installing addons.
Other than that, I will not be around.
I am leaving this place in good operating condition, and financial condition.
--Nelson

#SaveTheExpanse

So, I managed to snag an honest to goodness Deckel on eBay for buttons. I’m going to be restoring it, and switching out the motor from the existing 3 phase to a brand new single phase. New paint, de rusted, handles re finished, new or reblacked hardware... the works.

She needs it...

I’ve got it blown apart right now, so I have a bare casting ready for paint stripper, and all the steel parts are marinating in evaporust. I’ve also stripped the spindle assembly and got the old bearings and grease out, and ordered replacement SKF equivalents. The shaft the hold the work head and the shaft the holds the motor plate fought me all the way... they where held in by taper pins that appeared to be immovable. And it would seem inserted whilst the casting was being made (that or pixies climbed inside and used tiny hammers). I ended up drilling them out. I’ll replace them with appropriately sized bolts when it goes back together, so it saves future generations the hassle.

H-M Supporter - Sustaining Member

I recommend that you think about using a three phase motor, perhaps the original one, and use it with a VFD. You will have infinite speed control and the motor will run smoother, giving a better surface finish. There are other benefits as well.

Edit: Looking at the configuration of the original motor makes me think in that direction even more.

I recommend that you think about using a three phase motor, perhaps the original one, and use it with a VFD. You will have infinite speed control and the motor will run smoother, giving a better surface finish.

I’ll keep that in mind if the single phase I’ve got in doesn’t work out. Speaking of which, it was derived this morning:

A little bit of bench testing. Runs smooth and quiet. I also found a NVR switch in my electrics stash when I was looking for some cable to hook it up with, so I’ll use that when I put it together for real. The pully will need boring out a little to accommodate the new motors shaft size.

I mentioned earlier it was all blown apart. I wasn’t kidding.

The stuff in boxes has been through the evaporust, and it’s done it’s usual job. Just needs a clean to get rid of the residue it leaves. The long rod is the bar the work head attaches to (the one that gave me the bother) that hasn’t been treated yet.

Under all that dirt though:

It’s imperial. Damn. I’m a metric man...

The postman also dropped off the plating and blacking chemicals his morning as well

And I expect the new bearings for the spindle to arrive tommorow, so I should be able to rebuild that over the weekend - as well as make a start on stripping the paint. It looks like it isn’t the first time it’s been done, as there’s grey and green paint on it, as well as the usual filler.

#SaveTheExpanse

Everything that was in the evaporust is now out, including the main mounting bar. All of it has been cleaned and anything that could be was mounted on the lathe, spun up and polished with scotchbrite.

The postman delivered the new bearings for the spindle, so I decided to rebuild that next.

The spindle consists of a sleeve, shaft with integral pulley, two bearings, rear and front dust covers, two Belleville washers and two pin wrench nuts.

The larger ID bearing goes to the front, the smaller to the rear. I packed them with grease before installing. The front dust shield is press fit onto the sleeve.

The rear bearing with shaft pressed through, and the rear dust shield ready to go on. This spins with shaft, and the washers and nuts lock it all together.

My next job will be to strip the castings. They’re all ready to go

And then one I’ve done that, it’s time to mask up and paint. I’m going to use this - never tried Rust-Oleum before... but as I wanted green, and there was no smooth green hammerite at the local DIY ship, I thought I’d try it, as all you guys seem to swear by it.

#SaveTheExpanse

The nitromors does an ok job, if you follow the instructions to the letter. The small stuff cleaned up well, apart from the remnants of some red oxide primer (I think) and some stubborn filler on the wheel guard.

The main body was a different matter. This was it after one treatment with the stripper:

There was a lot of stubborn paint left behind. I think mainly due to me leaving the stuff on too long and letting it dry out. That’s what comes from being interrupted by SHMBO.

A second dose did for most of the residual stuff.

Anything else will be dealt with by some emery cloth. As you can see, stuff I’d done earlier was already starting to flash rust.

So I dunked all the smaller pieces back in the evaporust to protect them. I’ll try and put the motor base plate (the square piece) and the wheel guard in it tommorow when I fish the small bits out. The main casting will just have to go rusty with dignity until I get round to painting it. Which might be after some filler... I don’t know. I’m not that bothered about the foundry marks in the casting - what do you guys think?

I also managed to get the pulley cleaned up and mounted on the new motor. The new motor shaft was only 1mm bigger than the bore, so it was an easy job to enlarge it to 10.5mm and ream to 11mm.

Active User

If it were mine, I'd let it dry a couple of days then put it in the (baking) oven at 175-200 for two hours, turn it off and let it cool to Room Temp. You can't dig a thumbnail into it, once baked.
Looks good, nice job.

Active User

Hello from across the pond. You are doing an over the top restoration! I have the same grinder. I use it primarily for sharpening my Gorton pantograph cutters and does an excellent job of it. There is reading and talk about other capabilities it can do but I have other grinders that do a better and faster job. I will be watching with enthusiasm to see how my different grind jobs you can perform with it…Dave

#SaveTheExpanse

Lots of progress today. It’s starting look like a grinder again, rather than a collection of parts.

Motor mounting rod back in and re-pinned, and the work head main rod reinstalled with the sweep adjust arm attached with a countersunk screw.

Motor located and fixed onto the plate, and the plate slid onto the mounting rod. The drive cord is in place as well.

Electrical box screwed back onto the casting, and all the wiring is all reconnected. The fine / micrometer adujust is also back on, as is the wheel guard and the dressing arm, which now sports a diamon dresser I picked up cheap on amazon. The first part of the work head is on the rod as well, as it had to be in place when the main rod was put back in.

My adventures in brush plating have been disappointing, to say the least. I was probably expecting too much, but the first aadjusting lever I tried to do just didn’t seem to do anything. I also tried a knurled thumb screw as well, and I’m sure it looked better prior to me trying than after. Hmmmm. Maybe I’ll just polish them. The other thumb screws and knobs look ok, and that just good ole super fine scotchbrite.

Blacking the parts that are supposed to be black was much more successful

It helped to identify some missing woodruff keys, which I’ve ordered. But it’s all gone back together.

I’m going to try and print out some replacement scales for the cross slide, as the ones on there have worn so much you can’t make anything out on them.

I’ve also started on adding a light to the grinder, similar to what would have been on there (but didn’t come with it). I picked up a cheap single gu10 spotlight for the diy store, with an led bulb. I stripped the base off it, and found a mains capable switch in my parts bin.

The manual shows the lamp suspended from a tube that slots into the top of the main casting, so I got some 10mm anodised aluminium tube, bent it up and checked it out. Left it long for now so I can gauge where to cut it. I’ll turn a small collar that will slip on the end and screw into the lamp stem.

Just to make sure the lamp wouldn’t be too heavy, I hung it off the tube. Looks ok.

#SaveTheExpanse

And here’s the finished article. Everything back in place, light wired up, new wheel mounted. Very happy with how it’s all turned out.

I went with a smaller push button for the lamp switch, and located it on the top of the electrical box.

I have one 12mm collet, and then what I assume is a mix of imperial. Only the 3/8” one still has a readable size marked on it, so I’ll measure the others and try to engrave the size back in at some point.

But there you go. From a rusty hunk of cast iron and steel to working grinder.